A blog about research, awareness, prevention, treatment and survivorship of Breast Cancer and all cancers, including targeted scientific research and a grassroots approach to increase screening for cancer, especially in the low income and under-insured population of El Paso, Texas, with a view to expand this new health care model to many other 'minority' populations across the United States and beyond

Saturday, December 8, 2012

News from CPRIT

Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texasvia mail121.us4.mcsv.net

CPRIT brought on a compliance officer to provide an additional
layer of oversight and assurances in the stewardship of taxpayer money.
At the direction of CPRIT’s executive director, the compliance officer
initiated a top-to-bottom compliance review of all commercialization
awards funded to date. This extensive review revealed that one company
award lacked documentation of the standard review process. The company,
Peloton Therapeutics, was on the very first commercialization award
slate funded in June 2010. In response, the Institute immediately
notified Peloton and placed a hold on future funding.
"CPRIT must have the trust of our fellow Texans that we are not
only doing great work but that we are doing everything the right way,"
said executive director Bill Gimson. "We proactively initiated this
comprehensive review to be transparent and ensure good stewardship."
CPRIT’s compliance officer learned that CPRIT’s chief
commercialization officer had improperly included the Peloton proposal
on a commercialization award slate presented to the Institute’s
Oversight Committee two years ago. The proposal did not have the
required formal recommendation from the commercialization or scientific
research peer review committees. Additionally, CPRIT’s investigation
revealed that Peloton was unaware CPRIT processes had not been followed
and had played no role in placement of the proposal on the award slate.
At CPRIT’s request, Peloton has resubmitted its proposal to undergo
a commercialization and scientific review pursuant to CPRIT’s formal
process. Like all grant reviews, the peer review committee’s
recommendation to fund or not fund the proposal will determine whether
the application is included on a proposed award slate presented to the
Oversight Committee.
CPRIT’s compliance officer, in conjunction with CPRIT’s third party
grant management provider, confirmed that all other commercialization
awards were assigned to and reviewed by a peer review committee pursuant
to CPRIT’s established policies.
CPRIT is committed to continuing quality improvement in the agency’s processes and procedures.